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THE 



Sacred Passion of Jesus Ghrist. 

SHORT MEDITATIONS 

FOR 

EVERY DAY IN LL^NT. 



RICHARD F;CLARKE^J7ofco^ 
lis MAR 1 1869 ' 






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New York, Cincinnati, Chicago : 
Printers to the Holy Apostolic See. 



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Xtfjii ©fcstat. 



H. A. Brann, D.D. 



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*|* Michael Augustine, 

Archbishop of New York. 



New York, January 26, 1 




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Copyright, 1889, by Benziger Brothers. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 5 

How to Meditate on the Passion . . . . .6 

Ash Wednesday — The Anticipation of the Passion . 7 

First Thursday in Lent — The Preliminaries of the 

Passion 8 

First Friday in Lent — The Supper in Simon's House . 9 

First Saturday in Lent — The Eating- of the Paschal 

Lamb ......... 10 

The First Sunday in Lent — Jesus' Desire for His 

Sufferings n 

Monday After the First Sunday in Lent — The Washing 

of the Feet .12 

Tuesday After the First Sunday in Lent — The Institu- 
tion of the Blessed Eucharist .... 13 

Wednesday After the First Sunday in Lent — The Fare- 
well Discourse of Jesus ...... 14 

Thursday After the First Sunday in Lent — On the road 

to Gethsemani 15 

Friday After the First Sunday in Lent — The Sacred 

Agony in the Garden 16 

Saturday After the First Sunday in Lent — The Aggrava- 
tion of the Sacred Agony . . . . .17 

The Second Sunday in Lent— The Help for the Saints 

in the Sacred Agony x 8 

Monday After the Second Sunday in Lent— The Con- 
solations of the Sacred Agony . . . .19 

Tuesday After the Second Sunday in Lent— The Sequel 

of the Sacred Agony ...... 20 

Wednesday After the Second Sunday in Lent— The 

Betrayal of Jesus .21 

Thursday After the Second Sunday in Lent— The Ap- 
prehension of Jesus 22 

Friday After the Second Sunday in Lent— Jesus Led 

Away Captive 23 

Saturday After the Second Sunday in Lent— In the 

House of Annas 24 

The Third Sunday in Lent— In the Palace of Caiphas! 25 

Monday After the Third Sunday in Lent— The Con- 
demnation of Christ 26 

3 



Contents, 



PAGE 

Tuesday After the Third Sundayin Lent — St. Peter's 

Denial of Jesus . . . . . .27 

Wednesday After the Third Sunday in Lent — St. Peter's 

RepentaDce 28 

Thursday After the Third Sunday in Lent — Jesus in 

the Guard-Room of Caiphas . . . . .29 

Friday After the Third Sunday in Lent — Jesus is 

Dragged before Pilate 30 

Saturday After the Third Sunday in Lent — Judas' Re- 
pentance ......... 31 

The Fourth Sunday in Lent — Jesus before Pilate . 32 

Monday After the Fourth Sunday in Lent — Jesus be- 
fore Herod 33 

Tuesday After the Fourth Sunday in Lent — Barabbas 

or Jesus ?...'.. . . 34 

Wednesday After the Fourth Sunday in Lent — The 

Scourging . . . . . . . 3 5 

Thursday After the Fourth Sunday in Lent — The 

Crowning with Thorns ...... 36 

Friday After the Fourth Sunday in Lent — Ecce Homo. 37 

Saturday After the Fourth Sunday in Lent — The Con- 
demnation to Death ...... 3S 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent — Jesus Sets Out on the Way 

to Calvary . . . . ' . . -39 

Monday After the Fifth Sunday in Lent — Via Dolorosa. 40 

Tuesday After the Fifth Sunday in Lent — Jesus Meets 

His Holy Mother . 4 1 

Wednesday After the Fifth Sunday in Lent — Simon of 

Cyrene ......... 4 2 

Thursday After the Fifth Sunday in Lent— Jesus is 

Nailed to the Cross . . . . • -43 

Friday After the Fifth Sunday in Lent— The Deriding 

of Jesus 44 

Saturday After the Fifth Sunday in Lent— The Good 

Thief . . . . ' . . . . . 45 

The Sixth Sunday in Lent — Jesus Commends His Dis- 
ciples to His Holy Mother's Care . . . . 46 

Monday in Holy Week — The Dereliction of Jesus on 

the Cross 47 

Tuesday in Holy "Week — The Thirst L'pon the Cross . 48 

Wednesday in Holy Week — The Death of Jesus . . 49 

Maundy Thursday — Jesus' Mystical Death in the Blessed 

Eucharist 50 

Good Friday — The Descent from the Cross . . .51 

Easter Eye — The Entombment 52 



PREFACE. 



There is no subject of meditation more pleas- 
ing to God and more profitable to the soul than 
the Passion of Jesus Christ. It contains in it- 
self all sweetness. It is the remedy for every 
evil ; the food that nourishes the soul. It is 
continued still in the Blessed Eucharist, and 
every Mass is a representation and renewal of 
the Sacred Passion. It is a subject always in 
season, but especially during the holy time of 
Lent. 

These Meditations deal with some of the main 
incidents of Our Lord's Sacred Passion. They 
are intended to be begun on Ash Wednesday, 
and to end on Holy Saturday. A few verses of 
Scripture are suggested to be read before each 
meditation, as furnishing the subject-matter of 
which it treats. 



How to Meditate on the Passion. 

St. Bonaventure tells us that if we desire to 
meditate with fruit on the Passion of Jesus 
Christ, three conditions are necessary. Our 
meditation must be : 

i. Humble; for the Passion is unlike anything 
else in the world, it is unfathomable to human 
reason — a bottomless ocean of mystery. Reason 
must bow its head and confess its inability to 
grasp the mysteries that even Faith sees only 
darkly and through a glass. The story of 
Christ's humiliation is to the proud a sealed 
book; they see nothing attractive in it. Christ 
suffering has no beauty that they should admire 
Him. I must therefore begin by praying for 
humility. 

2. Full of confidence; since the Passion is the 
source of all our confidence. It is the proof of 
the exceeding love wherewith Christ loved us. 
How can I fear with the sight before me of 
Christ suffering for love of me ? 

It is, too,'a medicine for every possible evil, 
for every temptation, for every sin ; whatever 
the malady of my soul, the Passion of Christ 
can cure it. At the foot of the cross each mor- 
tal wound will be made whole. 

3. Persevering: the beauty of the Passion does 
not appear all at once. The world considers it 
a degradation, the careless and the indifferent 
pass it by unmoved ; even the faithful Chris- 
tian scarcely penetrates beneath the surface of 
that Divine Mystery, unless he prays earnestly 
and continually to appreciate it. Only gradu- 
ally and by degrees are we drawn by the sacred 
attractiveness of the cross. 

Before I begin my meditations I must ask 
God for this spirit of humility, confidence, per- 
sistency. 

6 



Ash Wednesday — The Anticipation of the Pas- 
sion. 

Read St. Matthew xvi. 21 ; xvii. 21, 22. 

1. From the first moment of His Incarna- 
tion our blessed Lord had ever before His eyes 
the prospect of His approaching Agony and 
Death. It was present to Him, not vaguely and 
uncertainly, like pain and suffering to which 
men look forward, but vividly and distinctly, as 
at the actual time when He suffered. Never 
for a single moment was it absent from His 
thoughts. O wondrous love of our Incarnate 
God, Who thus employed His divine power to 
protract His sufferings by this continual pros- 
pect ! 

2. Yet in spite of this He was always cheerful 
and full of brightness and joy of heart. His 
coming Agony did not weigh Him dow T n or de- 
press |Him. In spite of the bitterness of the 
chalice, of the unspeakable agony ever present 
to Him, no cloud overcast His brow, no weak- 
ness or dread was manifest to His apostles, no 
thought of self interfered w r ith His perfect sym- 
pathy for others. He was a pattern of divine 
unselfishness ; the unselfish always forget their 
own troubles, and so can comfort and help 
others. 

3. But our blessed Lord not only was not 
cast down by the approaching Passion, He actu- 
ally longed for it. " I have a baptism wherewith 
I am to be baptized : and how am I straitened 
until it be accomplished ?" His love for men 
was such that He rejoiced in the thought of 
suffering for us. How can I ever thank Him as 
I ought? How can I show my love for Him 
Who loved me with so great a love ? 



First Thursday in Lent — The Preliminaries of 
the Passion. 

Read St. Luke xxii. 1-6. 

1. During the first days of the week in which 
He suffered, our blessed Lord had been teach- 
ing all day in the Temple. The assembled crowd 
had cried, " Hosanna to the son of David : Blessed 
is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." 
It seemed as if He were going to be acknowl- 
edged by the voice of the people as the King of 
Israel. How deceptive are appearances ! How 
often, when all seems going well and the cause 
of Christ about to triumph, some grievous dis- 
appointment is at hand ! 

2. Side by side with the enthusiasm of the 
people grew the rage and fury of the chief 
priests and scribes. Why did they thus hate 
Him Who went about doing good ? In their 
selfishness and cupidity they feared lest He 
should interfere with their influence and they 
thus lose their position, their reputation, their 
gains. Pride and self-love blinded their eyes, 
and made them hate with a bitter hatred the 
Son of God. Am I not sometimes blinded by 
like feelings ? filled with unjust dislike of others 
because they seem to interfere with my influence 
or my personal interests ? 

3. The chief priests had a great advantage in 
the fact that in the little company that sur- 
rounded Jesus there was a traitor. Judas, im- 
pelled by avarice, had been first a thief, and 
then had made overtures to betray his Master. O 
fatal love of money, to harden the heart of man! 
How careful must I be not to set my heart on 
any earthly possessions, since nothing has a 
more deadly power than this to separate me 
from the love of Jesus ! 

8 



First Friday in Lent— The Supper in Simon's 
House. 

Read St. Mark xiv. 3-1 1. 

1. The supper in Simon's house was remark- 
able for St. Mary Magdalene's act of devotion to 
our Divine Lord. She brought an alabaster 
box of ointment of precious* spikenard, and 
poured it on His head as He sat at table. Her 
gift was very pleasing to Our Lord for three 
reasons : (a) she gave of her best ; r#) she 
gave out of pure love ; (c) she gave in presence 
of the assembled guests, fearlessly and knowing 
that men would ridicule and blame her. Are 
the gifts I give to God marked by generosity, 
supernatural love, absence of all human respect? 

2. Some of those present, instigated by Judas, 
began to criticise what they regarded as waste. 
They had indignation within themselves and 
showed it in words. They veiled their grum- 
bling under show of charity to the poor. This was 
very displeasing to Jesus. He hates the spirit 
that finds fault and criticises and condemns, and 
all the more when it hides itself under the cloak 
of virtue. Yet is not this spirit strong in me? 

3. Notice the gratitude of Jesus. A little box 
of ointment poured on His head earns for the 
donor a commemoration of her gift wherever 
the Gospel shall be preached in the whole world. 
And not only this : it obtains for her also many 
graces on earth and great glory in heaven. 
There is no one who is so grateful as Jesus 
Christ ; no one who will reward with such di- 
vine generosity everything done from love to 
Him. Nothing will be forgotten, nothing is too 
small to be noticed and richly recompensed by 
Him. 



First Saturday in Lent — The Eating of the 
Paschal Lamb. 

Read St. Luke xxii. 14-18. 

Our blessed Lord, before He suffered, cele- 
brated the Jewish rite which above all the rest 
foreshadowed His own sacred sufferings. The 
paschal lamb was an exact type of Him, the 
Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the 
world. 

1. The paschal lamb was the means em- 
ployecTby Almighty God to deliver His people 
from Egypt. It was the sprinkling of its blood 
on the posts of the door which caused the 
avenging angel to pass by and leave the in- 
mates unharmed. So the Blood of Jesus Christ 
sprinkled on our souls, in the sacraments and 
when we make an act of contrition, saves us 
from the vengeance that would otherwise fall 
upon us. O Jesus! sprinkle me with one drop 
of Thy precious Blood, and I shall be free from 
sin. 

2. The paschal lamb had to be drained of 
the last drop of its blood. So the Lamb of 
God shed for us the last drop of His precious 
Blood. He was not satisfied with merely giving 
His life for us, but He must needs endure all 
the intense agony, the burning thirst which 
came of this draining of His whole body for love 
of us. How can I ever thank Him as I ought? 

3. The lamb suffers uncomplainingly. It 
never murmurs against its lot, or struggles 
against those who lead it here and there ; unlike 
the filthy swine, that grunt and grumble at every 
attempt to control them. None was ever so 
submissive as the Lamb of God. " Lo, I come 
to do Thy will, O my God. I am content to do 
it." Can I echo these words ? 



The First Sunday in Lent— Jesus' Desire for 
His Sufferings. 

Read St. Luke xii. 49, 50. 

1. How are we to account for Christ's desire 
to suffer? Human nature shrinks from suffer- 
ing and dreads it, and none of the sons of men 
was ever so sensitive as He, or had sufferings 
to look forward to in any way comparable to 
His. Yet in spite of this Christ longed for His 
sufferings. O wondrous love, that not only suf- 
fered for us, but longed for the time when His 
Passion should come ! 

2. Was it the suffering in itself for which 
Christ longed ? Impossible. It was for the 
result of that suffering, for the joy that was set 
before Him, that He endured the cross and 
despised the shame. Even .Christ could not 
work without the prospect of some reward. So 
we should encourage ourselves with the thought 
of the glorious recompense God will give to all 
who suffer for Him and who unite their suffer- 
ings to the sacred sufferings of the Son of God. 

3. But what sort of reward was that to which 
the Son of God looked forward ? It was no 
selfish reward. It was the pure, unselfish joy of 
seeing others happy, of knowing that by all He 
was to endure millions of mankind would be 
freed from the eternal misery of hell, and raised 
to the eternal and unspeakable joy of the bea- 
tific vision. He knew that it was by sufferings 
that graces must be won for others. This lesson, 
too, the saints learned from their Master. How 
have I learned it ? Do I recognize the neces- 
sity, the dignity, the happiness of suffering? 



Monday after the First Sunday in Lent — The 
Washing of the Feet. 

Read St. John xiii. 2-20. 

1. When the paschal supper was finished, 
Our Lord rose from table, laid aside His upper 
garment, and girding Himself with a towel, He 
filled a basin with water and went from one 
to another of the apostles, washing with His 
sacred hands the feet of each. This act was 
intended to teach us the happiness of perform- 
ing menial services for those around us. To wait 
on others, especially on our inferiors, for Christ's 
sake, is far more honorable than to be waited 
on by them ; to make ourselves the servants of 
others is far more noble than to be served by 
them. Is this the principle on which I act ? 

2. In this act were combined the two virtues 
which are most prominent in Our Lord's life on 
earth — charity and humility. Charity takes a 
pleasure in everything that promotes the happi- 
ness or the comfort of our fellow-men because 
they are the brethren of Christ. Humility takes 
a pleasure in whatever puts us in an inferior 
position, in one to which no worldly honor or 
dignity attaches, but rather contempt and hu- 
miliation. How sadly wanting I am in these 
virtues ! I dislike charity if it costs me any- 
thing, and I positively hate to be humbled, to be 
despised by men. 

3. Yet Christ's words are true: the disciple is 
not greater than His Master. If our Divine 
Master was glorious in the sight of the angels 
as He stooped to wash the apostles' feet, our 
road to glory must be by stooping, by minister- 
ing in all humility to others. We never can be 
as great as our Master. We must take care lest 
our selfishness and pride place us in direct con- 
trast with the Son of God. 



Tuesday after the First Sunday in Lent — The 
Institution of the Blessed Eucharist. 

Read St. Luke xxii. ig, 20. 

1. St. Paul tells us with pointed emphasis 
that it was on the very night in which He was 
betrayed that Our Lord instituted the mystery 
of mysteries, the sacrament of His love. It was 
worthy of His divine generosity to choose the 
occasion when He was to be outraged, insulted, 
betrayed, scourged, and crucified, to invent this 
wondrous sacrament of love. To forgive is al- 
ways generous, but what shall we say of the gen- 
erosity of One who not only forgives the most 
horrible insults and cruelty, but chooses the 
very day on which He is to suffer them for giv- 
ing to His enemies a gift compared with which 
all other gifts are small and insignificant — a gift, 
too, which is none other than Himself? 

2. What is the primary end of the institution 
of the Blessed Eucharist? Our Lord Himself 
tells us in the words : " Do this in commemora- 
tion of Me." It is for the sake of putting us in 
mind of His sacred Passion that He gives Him 
self to us, that we, His brethren, for whom He 
died, may not forget Him. He loved us so dear- 
ly — He loves us still so dearly — that He cannot 
bear to be absent from our thoughts, and for 
this end He invented this means of representing 
His Passion to us as long as the world should last. 

3. But the Blessed Eucharist is more than a 
commemoration of the sacrifice on the cross. 
It is the same sacrifice continued ; the same 
Priest, the same Victim, only the manner of 
offering changed. Christ is still slain each time 
holy Mass is said ; the oblation on the cross is 
an eternal oblation for the sins of the whole 
world. 

13 



Wednesday after the First Sunday in Lent — The 
farewell Discourse of Jesus. 

Read St. John xiv. 1-3, 27-31. 

1. Our Lord's farewell to His apostles begins 
and ends with words of encouragement. He 
knew the importance of courage and confidence, 
and that without these they would never do 
great things for God. He knew, too, how liable 
all men are to be discouraged and cast down 
when troubles and trials arise ; how hard it is to 
struggle on when all seems dark around. To 
us as well as to the twelve He says : " Let not 
your heart be troubled : you believe in God ; 
believe also in Me." Why do not we believe 
more in Christ, trust Him more, appeal more to 
Him in times of darkness ? He will always have 
a word of comfort for us. " Let not your heart 
be troubled. I go to prepare a place for you." 

2. Amid all the troubles that Our Lord fore- 
tells to His apostles, He promises them one 
gift that will enable them to rise above all their 
difficulties and all their sorrows. He promises 
to leave with them peace. What gift in the 
world is there which is like this ? If we are at 
peace, we can bid defiance to all our foes ; if we 
are not at peace, we might be lords of the uni- 
verse, yet we should be miserable. No wonder 
we pray in holy Mass, Do7ia nobis pacem — Give 
us peace. 

3. The peace Our Lord promises is His peace : 
" My peace I give unto you. " What sort of peace 
is this ? It is the peace He enjoyed all through 
His life — the peace of perfect union of His will 
with God's. If we are thus united to .God by 
perfect resignation, we too shall have unalter- 
able and eternal peace. 

14 



Thursday after the First Sunday in Lent — 
On the Road to Gethsemani. 

Read St. Mark xiv. 26-34. 

1. After singing one of the paschal hymns, 
Our Lord and His apostles went fortti to the 
Garden of Gethsemani. On the way a strange 
sorrow spread over the countenance of Jesus. 
His unfailing cheerfulness forsook Him. His 
disciples wondered at the sudden change. It 
was the shadow of His sacred Passion which 
fell upon Him, the beginning of the black dark- 
ness which was to envelop His Sacred Heart. 
When the shadow of desolation falls on me, 
may I remember Thee, O Lord, thus downcast 
on the road to Gethsemani ! 

2. In mournful words Our Lord addresses the 
apostles : " You will all be scandalized in My re- 
gard this night. You will all fly like cowards 
when the danger comes. One of you will betray 
Me, another will deny Me thrice, all will forsake 
Me." How this thought pierced with anguish 
the sensitive heart of Jesus ! Of all who for three 
years had been His chosen friends and com- 
panions, who had seen His miracles and listened 
to His divine words, not one would be found 
faithful. My God, how often have I been found 
unfaithful to Thee ! 

3. At length Our Lord's bitter sorrow breaks 
out in words still more mournful : " My soul is 
sorrowful even unto death. " The darkness which 
was gathering round Him was even then like 
the darkness of death. He began to fear and 
to be very heavy. He could hardly endure the 
misery which even then began to fall on Him. 
Pray for sympathy with Jesus, and the power of 
appreciating a little the divine love which 
undertook all this for your sake. 

15 



Friday after the First Sunday in Lent — The 
Sacred Agony in the Garden. 

Read St. Matthew xxvi. 30-40. 

1. During the Agony in the Garden Our 
Lord anticipated all the coming agony of His 
Passion. He allowed His human soul to feel in 
all its intensity each detail of the unspeakable 
suffering that was now close at hand. Hitherto 
it had indeed been distinctly present to Him, 
but now it seemed to take possession of His 
whole soul. Now it was a mortal fear, resulting 
from a clear, vivid realization of all that He had 
to endure. When darkness invades our souls, 
we should remember that none is like the 
deep, black darkness that spread over the 
sacred soul of Jesus. 

2. What relief did Jesus seek in this agony of 
terror that had come over Him ? The relief 
of prayer. He knew that in all desolation 
and distress the best plan, the only plan, is to 
throw ourselves upon the mere)' of God. There 
is no imperfection in asking to be delivered 
from something that we can scarcely endure, 
whether present agony or the anticipation of it, 
else Christ would not have prayed : " My Father, 
if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me ! " 
In our darkest hours we can at least repeat these 
sacred words that were spoken as a pattern to 
us. 

3. Yet we must remember the conclusion of 
the prayer, the act of resignation, which leaves 
all in the hands of God. " Not as I will, but as 
Thou wilt !" These words spoken from* our 
hearts will always give us strength to bear what 
seems unbearable, and will take the bitterness 
out of our pains. 

16 



Saturday after the First Sunday in Lent— The 
Aggravation of the Sacred Agony. 

Read St. Mark xiv. 32-42. 

1. If it is difficult to suffer, it is far more diffi- 
cult to suffer willingly for those who show no 
gratitude in return for what we endure for them. 
But most difficult, nay, impossible, save to one 
who is himself divine, or else shares the divine, 
charity of the Son of God, to suffer for those 
who requite our love with hatred, our sufferings 
with bitter mockery, the favors we win for 
them by outrages and insults. It was this that 
crushed to the earth the Son of God. Alas! 
how ungrateful I am to Him ! 

2. During His sacred Agony He took upon 
Himself the sins of the whole world. Not in a 
general way, but individually, so that each and 
every sin, from the first sin of Adam to the last 
that shall be committed on the eve of the judg- 
ment, was present before Him; and not only 
present, but each added its own pang. The 
great black cloud which passed before His soul 
contained each sin of each individual man, wo- 
man, and child, and Christ suffered for each. 
What a frightful thing it must be to commit 
deliberately even the least sin, if thereby we add 
fresh pain to the agony of Jesus ! 

3. It was in this way that " He was made sin 
for us," i.e., He identified Himself with sin as far 
as it was possible for the Immaculate Lamb of 
God. He took upon Him all the effects of sin 
except those which necessarily belong to him 
who is guilty of the act of sin. All the dark- 
ness, all the gloom, the despondency, the loss of 
God, the feeling of hopelessness, the terror, 
which arise from sin inundated His sacred soul. 

17 



The Second Sunday in Lent — The Help for 
the Saints in the Sacred Agony. 

Read St. Matthew xxvi. 40-44. 

1. Our blessed Lord was not satisfied with 
taking upon Himself the sins of the world; in 
His divine mercy and compassion He added to 
this a further sacrifice of Himself. He also took 
upon Himself all the sufferings of the just, and 
especially all that His saints and martyrs would 
have to suffer for Him. He endured before- 
hand the thousand forms of agony to which 
they would be subjected for His sake. Not only 
would He in His love and mercy redeem them, 
but " He bore their infirmities and carried their 
sorrows." What sufficient thanks can we show 
to Him for His unbounded goodness? 

2. This it is which enabled the martyrs to 
despise their torments, and made the apostles 
rejoice to suffer shame for His sake. This it is 
which makes tolerable anguish which otherwise 
would be intolerable ; for if it be borne patiently 
for love of Christ, He has already in Himself, if 
not exhausted its bitterness, at least taken the 
main part of it on Himself. Every pang, every 
struggle, every throb of agony which should fall 
to the lot of His servants till the end of the 
world, He made His own for their relief. 

3. For this reason we are taught to unite our 
sufferings with those of Our Lord ; for what else 
does this mean except that He desires to share 
them with us ? In point of fact, the more we do, 
the more we bear our troubles w r ith a super- 
natural motive, the lighter they will become, or 
rather the greater will be our power and willing- 
ness to bear them. I will be more resigned, 
more patient, for Christ's sake; to Him I will 
offer all my sufferings and unite them to His. 

18 



Monday after the Second Sunday in Lent— The 
Consolations of the Sacred Agony. 

Read St. Luke xxii. 40-46. 

1. No words can tell, no human heart can 
conceive, the intensity of the sacred Agony of 
Jesus. It would have crushed Him out of His 
very life had He not by means of His Divinity 
supported His sacred humanity, and so enabled 
it to suffer more. See Him pale, haggard, 
scarce to be recognized in His abasement and 
His terror! See the sweat of blood pouring 
from His sacred limbs! Can this be the well- 
beloved Son of God ? My God, make me more 
contrite at the thought that I have taken part 
in bringing Thee to this. 

2. But He was not without consolation in His 
Agony. An angel was sent to comfort Him, to 
present before His vision the innumerable com- 
pany of the saints won by His precious Blood. 
He saw their joy and happiness to be won by His 
sacred Passion, by the labor of His soul, and see- 
ing it He was satisfied to bear it all. O pure, 
unselfish joy ! O joy surpassing all other joys ! 
The joy of seeing others happy was the promised 
reward which supported Jesus in His Agony. 

3. But He had a still greater and 1 stronger 
support than this. He beheld the honor and 
glory that would accrue to His Eternal Father. 
He saw that all the glory God would reap from 
His works would be as nothing in comparison 
with this greatest work to be wrought by His 
Eternal Son, and seeing this He was satisfied, 
and more than satisfied. In the head of the 
Book it is written of Him : " Behold, I come to 
do Thy will, O my God. I am content to do it." 
Have I the glory of God at heart as the first 
and foremost motive of my actions ? 

19 



Tuesday after the Second Sunday in Lert— The 
Sequel of the Sacred Agony. 

Read St. Mark xiv. 41, 42. 

1. At length Our Lord's mental agony in the 
Garden was over ; He had accepted the Chalice 
which His heavenly Father had given Him to 
drink. Now He is no longer sad and downcast, 
but He returns to His apostles full of vigor 
and courage. He encounters His Passion al- 
most with eagerness. This is always the result 
of a perfect submission to the will of God and 
absolute confidence in Him. God will always 
give us the courage to meet every trial, and when 
the time comes He will impart strength and 
force and light-heartedness that make it easy 
to face the trial. 

2. Yet this change had another cause. It was 
won by prayer ; or, rather, Our Lord as our Divine 
Example imparted for our sakes to His human 
nature grace such as earnest prayer alone can 
obtain for men from God. This is the secret of 
all spiritual victories ; all are won by persever- 
ing prayer. Prayer changes the poor, timid, 
frightened, shrinking soul to one brave and 
courageous and ready to do great things for 
God. Without prayer we are sure to fail. Am 
I earnest in prayer? 

3. We observe, too, that it was not merely 
prayer, but repeated prayer — the same words over 
and over again, the same entreaty to be spared, 
joined to the same act of resignation. We some- 
times say we cannot pray, but at least we can 
repeat over and over again some prayer for 
mercy and for help. Our repetitions will be not 
vain repetitions, but will bring certain relief 
from Him Who encourages us to importunity 
in prayer. 

20 



Wednesday after the Second Sunday in Lent — 
The Betrayal of Jesus. 

Read St. Matthew xxvi. 47-50. 

1. As soon as Jesus had for the third time 
roused the apostles from their slumber, the 
tramp of approaching soldiery is heard, and 
presently a band is seen escorted by the Phari- 
sees and ancients, and headed by one who acts 
as their guide. Who is it who has pointed out 
Christ to His foes? Alas! it is none other than 
the traitor Judas; one of the chosen twelve who 
had lived for three years in familiar intercourse 
with Jesus, listened to His words of grace, 
seen His acts of love and mercy. If Judas fell 
so low, I too am in continual danger. How 
awful a thing it would be if I too w r ere to turn 
traitor to Jesus ! 

2. Our Lord does not shrink away from Judas 
as we do from those who we think have treated 
us ill. On the contrary, He advances to meet 
him with words of friendship, in spite of the 
deadly wrong He had received. How is it we 
are so unforgiving, so slow to make friendly ad- 
vances, so ready to wrap ourselves up in our of- 
fended dignity? It is because we are so ungen- 
erous, so petty, so mean, so unlike to Jesus. 

3. Jesus still loved Judas, sought to win Judas, 
strove by words of gentle remonstrance to bring 
him to a sense of his wickedness before it was 
too late. " Friend, wmereto art thou come ? " 
He calls this miserable wretch His friend. Jesus 
meant what He said ; for He is the friend of sin- 
ners, even the greatest. He then is my friend, 
so why should I fear? 



Thursday after the Second Sunday in Lent— 
The Apprehension of Jesus. 

Read St. John xviii. 2-1 1. 

i. When Judas had given to his Master the 
traitor's kiss, Our Lord, knowing that His hour 
was come, boldly advanced to meet His enemies, 
and told them that He was Jesus of Naza- 
reth. At this word they went backward and 
fell to the ground. If this was the result of Our 
Lord's presenting Himself to them in His hu- 
miliation and abasement, what will be the terror 
and the dread of sinners when He comes again 
in all His glory? O my God, grant that I may 
have no sin upon my soul, no debt still to pay, 
when I appear before the judgment-seat of 
Christ ! 

2. The soldiers then advanced to seize Jesus. 
St. Peter, with impetuous courage and loyalty, 
draws his sword and attacks the servants of the 
high-priest, and in the affray cuts off the ear of 
one of them. But Our Lord checks him, and 
bids him put up his sword into the scabbard. 
His loyalty was natural, not supernatural, and 
it did not endure long in the face of danger. 
Natural motives, however good, will not serve 
the cause of God. 

3. When Our Lord was in the hands of His 
enemies, all the apostles forsook Him and fled. 
Not one was found to remain by His side in His 
abandonment. It was the will of God that He 
should suffer alone. " I looked about, and there 
was none to help; I sought, and there was none 
to give aid." Christ then suffered alone, 'and 
He can sympathize with that loneliness in suf- 
fering which adds so much to its bitterness. 

22 



Friday after the Second Sunday in Lent — Jesus 
Led Away Captive. 

Read St. John xviii. 12, 13. 

1. The chief priests and Pharisees had 
brought with them a coil of rope with which 
they bound tightly the sacred hands of Jesus, 
and He was led away like a lamb going to 
the slaughter. This is the beginning of the ap- 
parent powerlessness of Jesus. He Who before 
bid defiance to His enemies, put them to the rout 
by word and work, now seems unable to resist 
them, feeble and helpless in their hands. Yet 
under this apparent weakness was hidden a di- 
vine force ; nay, it was this very weakness 
which was the means of conquering the whole 
world. 

2. The officers tied the hands of Jesus, so 
that He could no longer lay them upon the sick 
and the afflicted, to heal their diseases and their 
miseries. So we too tie the hands of Jesus by 
bands far more fatal, in hindering His power to 
heal the sickness of our soul. When we reject 
His graces and turn a deaf ear to His counsel, we 
render Him powerless to assist us ; He cannot 
bestow upon us the blessings He delights to im- 
part : our obstinacy has tied His hands so that 
He cannot help us as He would. 

3. Often in our desire to work for others we 
find our hands tied. Something hinders our 
charitable designs ; some hostile influence ren- 
ders us apparently powerless. Our prayers seem 
to avail nothing; our kind acts are rejected ; we 
seem to do the wrong thing when trying our 
best to do what is right. Yet we must not re- 
pine ; we are only treading in our Master's steps. 
The very suffering entailed in this is a sure 
means of earning the graces we desire. 

23 



Saturday after the Second Sunday in Lent — In 
the House of Annas. 

Read St. John xviii. 19-24. 

i. Try to picture the scene; watch the per- 
sons, listen to their words, observe their actions. 
Annas, a cunning, bitter, cynical old man, de- 
lighted to find his enemy in his power ; the 
Pharisees crowding round in eager excitement, 
the false witnesses trying to concoct a plaus- 
ible story, and in the midst Jesus, sorrowful, 
bleeding, exhausted, yet calm and full of dig- 
nity. Hear the insulting questions of Annas, 
the derisive jeers of the Pharisees, the shouts of 
the mob, the firm, quiet, gentle words of Jesus. 
See the angry, eager gestures of the enemies of 
Christ, the assumed indignation of the judge, 
the cruel blow struck by the mailed hand of the 
soldier on the face of Jesus, causing the blood 
to flow from His sacred mouth. 

2. Christ received this blow upon His face to 
atone for our sins of the tongue, for the wicked 
words, the censorious words, the uncharitable 
words, the impure words that too often proceed 
from our mouth. Grant, O Lord, that I may 
remember Thee suffering this cruel blow, and so 
may learn to hate my sins of the tongue, that 
inflicted it upon Thee. 

3. Our Lord desired to teach us another les- 
son, viz., to bear with patience and gentleness 
all outrage and unkindness, all reproaches and 
ill-usage, and especially such as we endure for 
His sake. "Blessed are ye," He says, "when 
men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for 
My sake." But we must take care to bear it 

for Christ's sake, and for love of Him, if we 
would earn the blessing. 
24 



The Third Sunday in Lent — In the Palace of 
Caiphas. 

Read St. Mark xiv. 55-64. 

i. From the house of Annas Jesus was 
dragged to the palace of Caiphas the high- 
priest. Notice the bustle and activity that pre- 
vails : the chief priests and council searching 
everywhere for a show of evidence ; messen- 
gers sent to and fro ; bribes offered ; all the 
most worthless summoned to testify against 
Him. This is always the way: the wicked so 
much more active in fighting against God than 
the good in fighting in His behalf; Our Lord's 
disciples and friends are doing nothing, while 
His enemies are seeking to destroy Him. When 
I look at myself, how little I have done, how 
little I do now, for the interests of Jesus ! 

2. The false witnesses who came forward had 
a certain show of truth. The words they quoted 
against Him were really spoken. They had 
learned the ways of their master the devil ; Satan, 
when he deceives, always mixes up a large ele- 
ment of truth with his deceits. This is why we 
should never argue with him, for he can repre- 
sent what is false and unlawful as true and right, 
if once we listen, by bringing into prominence 
the element of truth it contains. 

3. These false witnesses, in spite of their cun- 
ning, could not agree together, but contradicted 
one another. It is one of the certain tests of 
error, that it is inconsistent and self-contradic- 
tory ; the city of confusion and the home of 
strife always thus betrays its imposture. Jar- 
ring discord is the mark of the foes of Christ ; 
peace and concord are the privilege of those 
who are on His side. How I should thank God 
that He has caused me to dwell in the City of 
Truth, the Church of the Living God ! 

25 



Monday after the Third Sunday in Lent — The 
Condemnation of Christ. 

Read St. Mark xiv. 60-64. 

1. In the midst of the false witnesses and 
their lying testimony Jesus remains silent. The 
high-priest, angry and impatient, urges Him to 
reply: " Answerest Thou nothing to the things 
which these witness against Thee ?" Still Jesus 
answers not a word. How different from our 
eager anxiety to answer every accusation and 
every word of blame ! How much better if we 
could hold our peace after the example of Jesus ! 

2. At length the high-priest rises and asks a 
direct question ; nay, he summons Christ in the 
name of God to declare the truth: " I adjure 
Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us if 
Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." Ordered 
by authority, Jesus at once says : " I am ; and one 
day I shall come in all the power of God that is 
now entrusted to you as the high-priest of God." 
Another lesson for us. We must obey author- 
ity even where he who carries it shamefully 
abuses it ; for those in authority, like Caiphas, 
speak in their official capacity as in the place of 
God. 

3. When Christ declares Himself to be the Son 
of God, the high-priest and the council rise in- 
dignantly to protest against such blasphemy. 
In this they are the type of modern heretics 
who accuse the Church of God and the Vicar 
of Christ of blasphemously usurping divine pre- 
rogatives. Pride and jealousy and self-love so 
blinded the eyes of the Sanhedrim that they 
called good evil, and evil good ; condemned the 
Son of God to death because He told them the 
truth. My God, preserve me from ever being 
thus blinded by sin ! 

26 



Tuesday after the Third Sunday in Lent — 
St. Peter's Denial of Jesus. 

Read St. Luke xxii. 55-62. 

1. What was the secret of Peter's miserable 
fall ? He was brave and generous, and loved 
Our Lord dearly. Yet, through human respect 
and fear, he denied all knowledge of Him. The 
season why he fell was that he trusted in him- 
self and his natural qualities instead of in God. 
In the spiritual warfare natural courage and 
generosity avail not. He who does not rely 
upon God alone is sure to fall. When dangers 
are imminent he loses heart, and then all goes 
wrong. 

2. St. Peter had not yet learned that natural 
impulse as a motive of action is sure to lead 
man astray. It never avails before God. Its 
excellence, whatever it may be, only avails in the 
things of this world, and even there it is a 
dangerous and untrustworthy motive. In 
things divine it is the road to ruin. We must 
exercise anti-impulsive effort if we are to be 
safe. We must do more ; we must turn our 
thoughts to God, and seek a divine impulse, an 
inspiration from Heaven, if we are to remain 
faithful and avoid frequent faults. 

3. St. Peter had neglected prayer. Our Lord 
had expressly warned him to watch and pray, 
and he had allowed himself to sleep while Christ 
was suffering His sacred Agony. True, he was 
weary and his eyes were heavy, but still he could 
have made the attempt. It might have seemed 
an unsatisfactory prayer, yet it would have saved 
Peter from his fall. He might have used vocal 
prayers and repeated the same words like Our 
Lord did. Learn from this that mere struggle 
against heaviness is very pleasing to God. 

27 



Wednesday after the Third Sunday in Lent — St. 
Peter's Repentance. (Read St. Luke xxii. 55-62.) 

1. St. Peter had thrice denied his Master, and 
the third time with oaths and curses. He was 
ashamed of Christ, afraid to own himself a ser- 
vant of Christ, and all because of a woman's 
jeering tongue. As I look over my life, how 
many times there have been when I have been 
faithless as Peter was ! I have not boldly spoken 
out as I ought. I have perhaps taken part in 
talk hateful to my Lord and Master. I have 
been ashamed to run counter to uncharitable 
or evil conversation, though I knew well enough 
that it was sinful. 

2. After the third denial the cock crew, and at 
the same time Our Lord turned and looked on 
Peter. It was at the moment when He was be- 
ing dragged from the tribunal to the servant's 
room, amid the jeers and mockery of the 
soldiers. All this time St. Peter had been pres- 
ent to His thoughts, amid all the outrages and 
insults ; and not St. Peter alone, but all wiio, 
though not at heart disloyal, nevertheless fall 
through weakness into sin. Remember me, O 
Lord, when I am in danger of falling, and when 
Satan desires to have me that he may riddle me 
as wheat. 

3. That look pierced the heart of St. Peter 
with a keen pang of shame and sorrow and re- 
pentance. How could he have been faithless to 
the Lord Whom he loved and for Whom he had 
joyfully given up all ! At once he made his way 
out of the hall, and with tears of anguish begged 
for pardon. Those tears were not unmixed with 
the sweet consolation of knowing that he was 
forgiven, and with a firm resolution not to let 
this fall discourage him. Here is a model for 
me when I have sinned. 

28 



Thursday after the Third Sunday in Lent— Jesus 
in the Guard-room of Caiphas. 

Read St. Luke xxii. 63-65. 

1. After Our Lord had been condemned to 
death, the Sanhedrim rose, and He was handed 
over for custody during the night to the soldiers 
and servants, who, taking the cue from their 
masters, treated their prisoner with every kind 
of brutal ill-usage. They tied a dirty rag over 
His face, and struck Him on the face, challeng- 
ing Him at the same time to show His divine 
power by saying the name of the striker. When 
He was silent, they mocked and jeered at Him, 
and at last they spat their filthy spittle in His 
sacred face. O my Lord, King of heaven and 
earth, how couldst Thou suffer Thy Divine 
Majesty to be outraged by these wretches ? 

2. Yet Our Lord was never more glorious than 
in the midst of His degradation and contempt. 
If at His baptism He was the beloved Son of 
God in Whom He was well pleased, much more 
now Each blow, each gibe, each insult added 
to the glory of His sacred humanity to all eter- 
nity. Truly then does St. Peter say : " If you 
be reproached for the name of Christ, you shall 
be blessed." Wisely did the apostles count it joy 
to suffer shame for His sake. My God, I know 
it is so ; but do I act on this principle, and re- 
joice in the reproaches and contempt that fall 
to my lot ? 

3. What did Christ specially atone for in the 
guard-room ? For all the filthy words men 
speak, for all the obscene jests, for all the 
mockery of holy things, for all the angry, cruel, 
uncharitable words. Alas ! my Jesus, have I not 
taken part in these insults poured upon Thee? 

29 



Friday after the Third Sunday in Lent — Jesus is 
Dragged Before Pilate. 

Read St. Luke xxii. 66-70 ; xxiii. 1. 

1. At daybreak the council assembled, and 
Jesus was again brought before them and ques- 
tioned again. The sentence of death passed 
the night before was confirmed. The whole 
multitude then hastened to Pilate with their 
prisoner, that they might obtain from the Roman 
governor the ratification of the sentence which 
they could not carry out themselves. They were 
resolved to have His life — anything to be rid of 
Him Whom they dreaded and hated. How 
strange it seems that they should so hate Him 
without a cause ! Yet it is ever so : men who 
are proud and covetous and selfish instinctively 
hate the truth. This is why there prevails all 
over the world such a deadly enmity to the 
Church of Christ. 

2. To wreak their vengeance, the Pharisees 
and ancients were ready to rise with the sun. 
How active men are in promoting worldly in- 
terests and criminal designs ! So much more 
active than in working for God and for heaven. 
Might I not do something more by rising a little 
earlier or more punctually, so as to do some- 
thing to please Our Lord before I begin my or- 
dinary work? At least I might think of Him 
and offer my heart and my life to Him. 

3. The Jews actually delivered over one of 
their own sacred nation to their enemies and 
oppressors, the Romans. No means are too base 
to get rid of their enemy. How much un- 
reasoning malice I have shown against those 
whom I disliked or who interfered with my sel- 
fish interests, perhaps against those who are not 
only brethren of Christ, but very dear to Him ? 

30 



Saturday after the Third Sunday in Lent — Judas' 
Repentance. 

Read St. Matthew xxvii. 3-16. 

i. When Judas heard the unanimous voice of 
the chief priests and ancients declaring that 
Jesus was guilty of death, his soul was filled 
with a black remorse that made his life intoler- 
able. How he hated the miserable pieces of 
silver for which he had sold his Master! How 
he hated the chief priests who had bribed him ! 
How he hated himself! The sweetness and 
gentleness of Christ came vividly before him, 
and only added to his misery, as it will add to 
the misery of the lost at the day of judgment. 
How bitterly he repented his folly ! At least he 
would rid himself of the accursed money and 
declare his guilt. But he had gone too far. He 
had refused so often to listen to the voice of 
Jesus that now his hardened heart refused to 
melt. What a warning to all who turn a deaf 
ear to the voice of conscience ! 

2. Yet he might have been forgiven even now 
if he had thrown himself at Jesus' feet and 
begged for pardon. But this he would not do. 
His repentance was a hopeless, black remorse — 
no element of hope or love or humble sorrow. 
It was the repentance of the lost in hell, who 
cry, " Fools that we were !" but yet will not, 
cannot, humble themselves to cry for mercy. 

3. How miserable Judas had been from the 
first! Had those pilfered gains in early days 
brought him solid satisfaction ? Had he been 
happy when he sacrificed his Master's interests 
to his own ? Are we happy when we knowingly 
prefer our own selfish interests to those of 
Christ? Sin and misery are twin sisters. My 
God, may I never wilfully betray Thy interests 
to my own pleasure or gain ! 

31 



The Fourth Sunday in Lent— Jesus Before 
Pilate. 

Read St. John xviii. 28-40. 

i. Pilate was at first inclined to look with con- 
tempt on the charge brought against Christ of 
setting Himself up as King of the Jews. But he 
soon changed his tone. He was astonished at 
Our Lord's silence and reserve. His calm dig- 
nity made a deep impression on him. How few 
there are who imitate Christ in this ! Our bab- 
bling tongues pour forth so many foolish and 
ill-considered words. Learn of Jesus the dig- 
nity of timely silence. 

2. Yet Jesus spoke when occasion required. 
He said enough to Pilate to convince him not 
only of His innocence, but of His claim to be 
king. Pilate was half-inclined to listen. He 
could not help recognizing in some degree the 
divine beauty of the Son of God amid all His 
humiliations. So the Catholic Church manifests 
herself to the world in a way that is sufficient 
to attract men of good will. There are few who 
have not the chance of recognizing her claims. 
Her beauty even in her humiliations and amid 
the sins of men shines forth as did the beauty 
of her Divine Spouse. 

3. Pilate's long experience tells him plainly 
enough that the Jews are all wrong and Christ 
is right. His practised eye detects the malice 
of the Jews, their hatred of their Victim, their 
selfishness and unscrupulous cruelty. He longs 
to release Christ ; he knows he ought to do so, 
but he fears the Jews, lest he be reported as 
favoring revolt. Human respect overcomes his 
convictions, and he has not the courage to set 
Jesus free. How fatal is cowardice in things 
divine ! 

32 



Monday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — 
Jesus Before Herod. 

Read St. Luke xxiii. 7-12. 

1. When Pilate found that the Jews were de- 
termined on the death of Jesus, he tried to get 
rid of the responsibility by sending Him to 
Herod. Herod rejoiced to see Him. In his 
vanity he expected that Our Lord would be glad 
to conciliate him by performing some miracle in 
his presence. Vain expectation ! It is only 
for the humble and pure of heart that Our Lord 
works miracles. Yet I expect Him to work for 
me, proud and selfish as 1 am, miracles of grace, 
to enable me to easily overcome long-rooted 
faults, to attain a spirit of prayer and close union 
with Him. How can I hope for this while I am 
so full of the worldly spirit of Herod ? 

2. Our Lord was ready enough to speak to 
Pilate, and even to Caiphas; but for Herod He 
had not a word. There is something terrible in 
this silence in the presence of the sensual, hard- 
ened reprobate. There is something in a sen- 
sual life that shuts the ears of men so that the 
whispers of grace never seem to reach them. If 
I want Our Lord to speak to me, the first thing 
is to see that I do not indulge my body in- 
ordinately. 

3. Herod was also the incarnation of self- 
satisfied worldliness. He was munificent, popu- 
lar, successful ; but he was hateful in God's sight, 
and rejected by Him, so that Our Lord showed 
an aversion to him that He showed to none 
else. What a lesson for us ! The reprobate 
Herod surrounded by flatterers and admirers; 
the Eternal Wisdom of God dressed in a fool's 
dress and treated as an idiot ! 

33 



Tuesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — 
Barabbas or Jesus ? 

Read St. Matthew xxvii. 15-22. 

1. Before Pilate sent Our Lord to Herod, he 
had already sought to take occasion to release 
Him, from the custom of setting free at the 
Pasch some notable prisoner. In order to 
secure success, he had proposed as an alter- 
native a noted murderer named Barabbas. To 
his astonishment, the name of Barabbas bad at 
once been taken up by the multitude. It was 
not that they loved Barabbas, but they hated 
Christ. So wretched men now choose what 
they know is evil simply because they hate God. 
They cannot bear the idea of submission. They 
long to get God out of the way, as the Jews de- 
sired to be rid of Christ. 

2. The multitude shouted for Barabbas be- 
cause the chief priests urged them to it. It was 
the rulers, the ancients, who were the real mur- 
derers of Christ ; the ignorant mob did but fol- 
low their leaders. What a responsibility it is to 
be in a position of authority ! What an account 
those who rule will have to give of those sub- 
ject to them ! 

3. When Christ returned from the palace of 
Herod clad in the fool's garment, Pilate made 
one more attempt to get Him released. It was 
a fresh compromise with his conscience, and, 
like all such compromises, only brought fresh 
insults on the Son of God. Again the shout 
rose for Barabbas to be set free, and Christ to • 
be crucified. O Pilate! why not listen to the 
whisper within you, and set the just man free at 
any risk ? My God, save me from cowardly 
compromises and dallying with conscience. 

34 



Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — 
The Scourging. 

Read St. Matthew xxvii. 27-30. 

1. When the Jews had shouted for Barabbas, 
and threatened Pilate to denounce him as dis- 
loyal to Rome if he released Jesus, the governor 
made one more attempt to save the life of Christ. 
He ordered Him to be severely scourged, hoping 
thereby to move the pity of the Jews. Vain 
attempt at a fresh compromise with his con- 
science ! Pilate only involved himself in deeper 
guilt, and Christ in a greater agony of suffer- 
ing. Nothing ever succeeds except a bold, fear- 
less obedience to God's holy inspirations. 

2. Our Lord is handed over to the scourgers, 
who strip Him naked and then begin their im- 
pious barbarity. The Pharisees are said to have 
plied them with drink to make them more reck- 
less in their cruelty. Blow succeeds blow from 
those many-lashed, iron-pointed scourges. First 
His sacred flesh becomes red and swollen under 
the stripes, then the blood begins to flow, then 
the iron points lacerate and tear His delicate 
body until it is one great wound. Listen as He 
piteously moans under the anguish ! See Him 
masked in blood ! O my Jesus, what must be 
Thy love to endure this for me! 

3. At length the executioners cut the cords, 
and Christ falls heavily in a pool of His own 
blood. What has brought the King of heaven 
to this condition of abject misery? It is the 
sins of men, especially the sinful indulgence 
of the body. It was to atone for sins of lux- 
ury and impurity and drunkenness that the 
spotless Lamb of God was thus tortured. Alas ! 
how often have I been indulgent to my body ! 
How have I yielded to the cravings of sense ! 

35 



Thursday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — 
The Crowning with Thorns. 

Read St. Mark xv. 16, 17. 

i. Our Lord was covered with a scarlet cloak 
and crowned with thorns, as a travesty or cari- 
cature of worldly honor. He desired to exhibit 
it in its true light. The farce played by the 
soldiers was in truth no farce, but a reality. It 
was intended to show how empty and contempt- 
ible is all earthly glory. It is worth no more 
than the mock-respect of the ruffians who bowed 
the knee by way of insult to Jesus. O Lord, 
by that mockery of honor Thou didst under- 
go, grant that I may esteem human honor at 
its true value. 

2. Watch the soldiers at their cruel sport. 
The crown upon the head of Jesus is plaited of 
briers, whose long thorns pierce His sacred fore- 
head as they press it down upon Him ; the 
drops of blood and mingled tears blind His eyes. 
One by one they pass before Him and bow the 
knee, and then — oh, shame ! they spit in His 
sacred face, that face before which angels and 
archangels fall in prostrate homage. O Lord, 
in return for those insults Thou didst endure, I 
will always bow before Thee in the Blessed 
Sacrament with reverent love and adoration ; 
I will seek to wipe the drops of blood from 
Thine eyes by denying myself the free indul- 
gence of my senses even in lawful things. 

3. What were the sins for which Christ 
specially atoned in the crowning with thorns? 
Evil thoughts and imaginations, uncharitable 
thoughts, proud thoughts, impure thoughts. 
It was these rather than the thorns which 
pierced His sacred head, and filled His eyes 
with tears of sorrow and of blood. 

36 



Friday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent— Ecce 
Homo. 

Read St. John xix. 4-6. 

1. The scourging and crowning with thorns 
have brought the Son of God to a condition 
pitiable to contemplate. We have seen Him, 
and there is no sightliness in Him that we 
should desire Him. Pity, contempt, horror, 
disgust, indignation, are mingled in the hearts 
of those who behold Him. He is indeed a 
worm and not a man. He, the fairest among 
ten thousand ! He, the sinless Lamb of God ! 
Oh, how frightful must sin be if it can work 
such havoc even in the sacred person of the Son 
of God ! 

2. The sin that did this work, moreover, was 
the sin of others, not His own. It was some- 
thing external to Him. He took it indeed upon 
Himself, He was made sin for us, but sin was 
never His own as it was ours. If it could so 
disfigure and degrade the sinless Lamb of God 
when laid upon Him from without, what must 
be the disfigurement and degradation sin works 
in us, springing up as it does out of ourselves, 
being a part of our sinful nature producing its 
natural fruits ? 

3. But was the Son of God really degraded by 
all these consequences of sin ? On the con- 
trary, His sacred humanity had never been so 
glorious or so worthy of honor as it was then. 
If He was unsightly before men, in the eyes of 
His Eternal Father He was crowned with 
honor and glory. There is nothing so pleasing 
to God as voluntary self-abasement and humilia- 
tion, nothing that brings so rich a recompense. 
How foolish then am I when I seek to avoid 
humiliation, and hate to be made like to the Son 
of God by suffering contempt and reproach 
from others ! 

37 



L 



Saturday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent— 
The Condemnation to Death. 

Read St. Matthew xxvii. 24-26. 

1. Pilate tries first one plan, then another, to 
avoid passing a sentence which he knew to be 
unjust. One plan after another fails, and now 
he is brought face to face with a choice on 
which the salvation of his soul may well depend. 
It was the turning-point in his life : the grace 
of God urging him on one side, and on the other 
the fear of man. So in the life of each there is 
some turning-point, some occasion when the 
choice made will decide his future both in life 
and in eternity. Unhappy those who in such 
a moment choose as Pilate chose ! 

2. The motive that led Pilate to condemn 
Jesus was the fear of man. He did not dare to 
face the consequences of doing his duty. He 
trembled before the opinion of others and the 
dread of losing his worldly position and honor. 
To how many has the same motive been a 
cause of eternal loss! Is it not one before 
which I have sometimes quailed, loving honor 
from men. and failing in what I knew was the 
will of God from a desire to please other- : 

3. Pilate ordered the sentence to be written 
out condemning Jesus to death, and then 
deliberately signed it. But first he washed his 
hands before the people, declaring himself 
guiltless of the blood of the just man that he 
condemned. O fruitless ceremony ! He could 
not wash from his soul the black stain of cow- 
ardice and of treachery to his conscience. It is 
no use doing ill and saying we did not mean it. 
Such an evasion, like Pilate's protest, rather 
adds to than diminishes the sin. 

3^ 



The Fifth Sunday in Lent — Jesus Sets Out on the 
Way to Calvary. 

Read St. Matthew xxvii. 31. 

1. It was not really Pilate who condemned 
Jesus to death, says St. Bernard, it was His love 
"for us. He had been longing all His life through 
for that moment when He was to carry out His 
Fathers will and redeem the world by dying for 
us. He knew that the divine mandate had 
gone forth that without shedding'of blood there 
would be no remission. The voice of Pilate, 
sentencing Him to death, was but the expression 
of His own love for sinners, and of His joyful 
acceptance of the cross for their sake. O Jesus, 
may I love Thee in return for such love for me ! 

2. The cross has been prepared beforehand, 
and as soon as the sentence has been passed 
they bring it forward to be laid upon the shoul- 
ders of their Victim. Jesus takes the cross, and 
kisses the instrument of His Agony as a welcome 
friend. He did this not merely because He 
loved us and therefore loved the cross, but to 
teach us to love our crosses, to accept them as 
gifts from God to be welcomed, not to be 
rejected or regarded with aversion and dislike. 
How can we dislike them when they make us 
like to Jesus, and must be borne after Him if 
we are ever to share His joy in heaven? 

3. On the shoulder of Jesus was a large, open 
wound, scarcely covered by the garments thrown 
upon Him. The weight of the cross rested on 
this wound, causing Him the most exquisite 
agony. It was by this that He was earning for 
us patience under our bodily sufferings. How- 
ever keen, they are nothing to what the Son of 
God endured on His road to Calvary. Jesus, 
grant me patience under my sufferings. 

39 



Monday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent— 
Via Dolorosa. 

Read St. Luke xxiii. 27-31. 

1. Torn and bleeding, scarcely able to sustain 
the heavy burden of the cross, with His long 
garment entangling His feet, dragged on by 
the brutal soldiery, Jesus treads the sacred way 
okhe cross. After going a few steps He stum- 
bles and falls ; rising with difficulty, He totters 
on a short distance farther and falls again. O 
my Lord and my God, I beseech Thee by these 
Thy most painful falls, grant that I may never 
again fall into deliberate sin. 

2. On the way some women express their 
grief and compassion with Jesus. His appear- 
ance is so pitiable that they cannot restrain 
their tears. Jesus turns to them, tells them to 
weep not for Him, but for themselves and for 
their children. If sin has wrought such a work 
of ^destruction in the Son of God, in Whom evil 
had nothing to lay hold of, in Whom the green 
wood could be blackened externally but not 
consumed by the flame, what would be its effects 
on sinners in whom the fire of sin rages as in 
the dry tinder? How ought I to fear the least 
spark of sin which may kindle in me the fire of 
passion and destroy me utterly ! 

3. One of those holy women, named Veronica, 
with a handkerchief wipes from His face the 
blood and sweat. On looking at the handker- 
chief she sees the impression of His sacred 
countenance stamped upon it. So upon the 
hearts of all who do acts of kindness for Christ's 
sake there' is imprinted His likeness. Each 
deed of charity tends to produce in our soul that 
likeness to Him in which all holiness consists. 

40 



Tuesday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent— Jesus 
Meets His Holy Mother. 

Read St. Matthew xvi. 24-2S. 

1. Our blessed Lady, under the inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit, goes forth to meet her Son 
as He drags Himself up the hill of Calvary. 
With what horror and dismay must she have 
been stricken through at the sight of her dar- 
ling Son and her God, His divine beauty ob- 
literated, mangled and torn, covered with 
blood and filth, unsightly and terrible to be- 
hold ! Heart-broken anguish fills her soul, and 
we may well believe that she would have died 
of sorrow had she not been miraculously sup- 
ported by the power of God. O Mother of 
God ! obtain for me a share in Thy grief and 
Thy intercession ! 

2. What a fresh pang of sorrow to the gentle 
heart of Jesus to see His holy Mother, pale and 
haggard, come to share in His sacred Passion 
by her compassion ! None so full of sympathy 
as He, none so full of acute feeling for the woes 
of others. If He compassionated the women 
on the way, how much more His own Mother, 
whom He loved far better than all the world 
beside ! O Mary, obtain for me, a sinner, the 
sacred compassion of Jesus ! 

3. Our Lady shared in the Passion of Christ 
in a way in which none else could, — none even of 
the saints, — simply because she was sinless. She 
hadnot to suffer for herself. She had no sin to 
expiate. This it is which justifies us in giving 
her the title of co-Redemptorix. She too, who 
knew no sin, was made sin for us. This earned 
for her the privilege of sharing in all the agony 
of the sinless Lamb of God. 

41 



Wednesday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent — 
Simon of Cyrene. 

Read St. Mark xv. 21. 

i. Our blessed Lord falls again and again be- 
neath the weight of the cross, until it becomes 
evident to the soldiers that He will never be 
able to drag it to the place of execution. They 
accordingly lay hold of a heathen passing by, 
Simon the Cyrenian, and him they compel to 
carry the cross. How little Simon knew the 
happiness in store for him when those rough 
soldiers seize him and force him to the ignomin- 
ious task of carrying for a public criminal the 
instrument of his punishment ! How often we 
too fail to recognize in the sudden disagreeables 
and contradictions we encounter God's wonder- 
ful designs of mercy to us ! 

2. Simon at first bore the cross surlily and re- 
luctantly, chafing under the hardship inflicted 
on him. But as he carries it, somehow an unac- 
countable change comes over him. It has the 
virtue to change his heart, and to make of him 
a devoted follower of the Crucified, one of the 
pillars of the Apostolic Church. Thus many a 
cross that we carry reluctantly turns out to be 
really the means of our sanctification and sal- 
vation. 

3. Before Simon arrives at the summit of 
Calvary, the cross has endeared itself to him. 
He has recognized that to carry it for Jesus was 
no hardship, but a privilege and a happiness. 
So too the saints learn to love the cross, to em- 
brace it, to seek it, to carry it with all joy, to be 
almost discontented if they are without it. This 
is the very height of peace and felicity; for those 
who find their joy in the cross find everywhere 
around them cause for rejoicing. 

42 



Thursday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent- 
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross. 

Read St. Luke xxiii. 32-34. 

1. Arrived at the summit of Calvary, our Di- 
vine Saviour is roughly stripped of His gar- 
ments and exposed to the rude gaze of the scof- 
fing multitude. This shame He endured to 
atone for our most shameful deeds, for our. 
human respect, for our glorying in our shame, 
for our boasting and love of display before the 
eyes of men. Yet when we see the King of 
Glory thus exposed to shame, will not shame be 
far dearer to us than the empty honors that men 
bestow ? 

2. The executioners then seize Jesus and lay 
Him down upon the cross. Holes have been 
bored in the wood at the extremities of the 
cross-piece and in the lower part of the stem, 
and Our Lord's sacred limbs are almost dislo- 
cated by being dragged until the hands and feet 
reach the parts that have been pierced. Then 
the long, sharp nails are held by one of the 
soldiers, while another with a hammer drives 
them in through the hands and feet of Jesus. 
The blows are struck ; the blood gushes forth ; 
while the Divine Victim moans piteously under 
the exquisite pain. O Jesus, grant me a heart- 
felt compassion with Thee in Thy sufferings. 

3. When Our Lord is nailed to the cross, the 
soldiers raise it on high, and let the base of it 
fall into a hole dug in the ground. The shock 
renews afresh the agony of Jesus. No word is 
heard from His mouth, save one which He 
repeats again and again: "Father, forgive 
them !" Even then He was thinking of others, 
not of Himself. Was ever iove like His ? Why 
do I not love Him more in return? 

43 



Friday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent — The 
Deriding of Jesus. 

Read St. Matthew xxvii. 39-44. 

1. The sight of Jesus hanging on the cross, so 
far from melting the hearts of the Jews, only 
hardened them the more against Him. Instead 
of feeling pity, they rejoiced over their Victim, 
and insulted Him in His misery. When men 
deliberately refuse to listen to the voice of 
Jesus, they become quite insensible after a time 
to His claim on them. They think evil good, 
and good evil ; they are given over to a repro- 
bate mind. Even in little things those who do 
not obey the impulses of grace become deaf 
to its calls, or even feel a positive aversion for 
that which they once loved but have now re- 
jected. 

2. How apparently impotent to save Himself 
the King of Glory seems to be ! But that weak- 
ness is true strength. It is by these outrages 
and insults, by this passive endurance of their 
jeers and gibes, that Christ Our Lord is doing 
the wondrous work of our Redemption, and 
earning graces for all those who suffer insult for 
Him, to rejoice in being counted w r orthy to suf- 
fer shame for His sake. 

3. But He is doing more than this. He is 
also preparing for His sacred humanity a glory 
corresponding to all this ignominy. Of Him it 
is true beyond all others that he that humbleth 
himself shall be exalted. Each taunt, each 
mocking word, was to earn the praise of the 
angels and saints to all eternity. Here is an 
encouragement for us ! What matters it if men 
despise and insult us, if God approves ? The 
just Judge will not forget in the day of account 
what we have suffered for Him. 

44 



Saturday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent — The 
Good Thief. 

Read St. Luke xxiii. 39-43. 

1. Among those who mocked and derided 
Jesus were the two thieves crucified with Him. 
But very soon His unspeakable gentleness and 
meekness touched the heart of one of the two. 
First he ceased his words of insult, then he boldly 
reproved his companion and bore testimony to 
the innocence of Jesus, and to His authority as 
King and Lord. What a divine power there is 
in weakness ! The sight of the uncomplaining 
patience of Christ convinced this robber that 
.He was King of all the earth, and that He Who 
now was dying on the cross would soon reign 
forever and ever. " Lord, remember me when 
Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom V 

2. Remember me ! This was his simple prayer. 
But we know that it was enough. If Christ 
remembers us, all will be well. What we have 
to dread is lest He forget us by reason of our 
having forgotten Him. This prayer should often 
be on our lips: " O Lord, remember me! In 
the hour of temptation, remember me ! When 
sorrow bears hard on me, remember me ! In 
sickness and in my last agony, O Lord, remem- 
ber me ! " 

3. Our Lord answers this prayer of the gocd 
thief with divine generosity. All his sins are 
forgiven him ; and as soon as his agony is over, 
he is to be received into the company of the 
blest and to be with Christ in paradise. What 
a rich reward for his confession of Christ ! 
What a glorious answer to his prayer that Christ 
will remember him ! 

45 



The Sixth Sunday in Lent — Jesus Commends 
His Disciples to His Holy Mother's Care. 

Read St. John xix. 25-27. 

1. Our Divine Saviour did not depart from 
those Fie loved without providing them with a 
Mother who should be their Consoler, their Pro- 
tector, their Advocate with God. In the person 
of St. John, He intrusted them all to Mary's 
care. If He had simply been providing Mary 
with a home, He would first have addressed St. 
John and commended to him the pious task of 
sheltering the Mother of God. By speaking 
first to Mary, He showed that it was she who 
was to shelter all those who were desolate and 
in sorrow. St. John was the representative of 
all who love Jesus, when Jesus said to Mary 
respecting him, "Woman, behold thy son." 

2. This was the occasion when Our Lady for 
a second time became a mother. The birth of 
her first-begotten Jesus cost her no pang of 
travail ; the birth of her spiritual children, the 
sinful sons of men, brought to her unspeakable 
anguish. The Queen of heaven became the 
Queen of Dolors before she could earn the right 
to exercise over each of us a mother's fostering 
care. How we ought to value the privilege of 
being her children, when it cost Mary such un- 
speakable suffering ! 

3. When Jesus said to Mary, "Woman, be- 
hold thy son," He asked Our Lady to regard us 
with a mother's love for His sake. Her love 
for Him was to be transferred to us, without, 
however, becoming one whit the less. She was 
to love us for Jesus' sake ; to show her love 
for Him by loving us. With what perfect con 
fidence can we go to Mary, who sees in each of 
us, in spite of our sins, the image of her Divine 
Son! 

46 



Monday in Holy Week — The Dereliction of Jesus 
on the Cross. 

Read St. Mark xv. 33-36. 

1. Our Lord had for a long time been silent. 
A thick darkness had gathered ; most of the 
spectators had departed in fear. The mocking 
Pharisees had been awed to silence. Few were 
left save the soldiers, St. John, and a faithful 
group of holy women. All at once a piercing 
cry from the Divine Sufferer breaks the silence, 
" My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken 
Me ?" These words were an expression of the 
thick darkness which Our Lord had permitted to 
gather round His human soul, and to hide from 
Him as it were the face of His Eternal Father. 
This desolation was by far the greatest of all the 
unspeakable sufferings of the Son of God. 

2. What was its cause? Nothing else but 
sin. He was made sin for us, and having thus 
identified Himself with the sins of men so far as 
was possible for the sinless Lamb of God, He 
allowed Himself to experience to the utmost 
degree that He could the awful misery which 
is the consequence of sin — the black, dark hope- 
lessness (if the word is a lawful one) which re- 
sults to the sinner whom God forsakes. This 
consequence of sin Jesus took upon Himself to 
save men from the oeternal remorse and despair 
which otherwise would have been their lot. 

3. This cry of Jesus is a model prayer for us 
in times of darkness and desolation. We some- 
times feel as if God had forsaken us, and cry out 
in our misery and sore distress. We are always 
safe in echoing Jesus' words, and He Who hears 
us use them will remember His own dereliction 
and help us in ours. 

47 



Tuesday in Holy Week — The Thirst upon the 
Cross. 

Read St. John xix. 28, 29. 

1. There is nothing that causes such agoniz- 
ing thirst as loss of blood. The prayer of the 
wounded soldier upon the battle-field is always 
for a drink of water; he forgets all other pains 
in his burning thirst. What must have been 
the intolerable suffering of Our Lord, Whose 
sacred Body had been gradually drained of every 
droop of blood ! All day long the blood had 
been flowing — at the scourging, on the way to 
Calvary, as He was dragged hither and thither, 
with the sharp cords cutting His wrists. And 
now upon the cross, as from hands and feet a 
stream bedewed the ground, fiercer and fiercer 
grew the burning, parching thirst which con- 
sumed Him. O my Jesus, was there none to 
quench that thirst endured for us ? 

2. Our Lord's thirst was to atone especially 
for the sins of intemperance and self-indulgence 
in drink. Every sin of drunkenness and excess 
or self-indulgence in our food and drink added 
to that thirst and made it still more intolerable. 
My God, forgive me any such offences, and help 
me to deny myself some lawful indulgence, that 
so I may atone for my sins and assuage in some 
degree that sacred thirst Thou didst endure for 
me. 

3. There was, however, a deeper meaning in 
Our Lord's cry: "I thirst!" He was thirsting 
for the souls of sinners, thirsting for the love of 
ungrateful men, thirsting for my love. He thirsts 
for it still, that I may be more faithful to His 
grace. O my Jesus, help me to love Thee more ! 

48 



Wednesday in Holy Week — The Death of Jesus* 

Read St. Luke xxiii. 45-48. 

1 . After Our Lord has hung in agony for three 
hours upon the cross, at last the time approaches 
when His deliverance is at hand. He has en- 
dured every possible form of suffering, bodily 
and mental. His body has been subjected to 
a physical torture far worse than the accumu- 
lated sufferings of the martyrs; His sacred soul 
has been rent asunder with an anguish and deso- 
lation more awful than any save the eternal an- 
guish of hell. He* has sacrificed His honor, His 
reputation ; He has been esteemed a fool and a 
madman. Now there is only one sacrifice more 
that He can make to His Eternal Father for 
man — the sacrifice of His life. He is de- 
termined to give up all for us, to be obedient 
even to death. 

2. What w T as it that caused the Heath of Our 
Lord ? Not the executioners, not the Jews, not 
the agony of the cross ; they were but instru- 
ments. It was sin. Sin had in it a malice suf- 
ficient even to rob of life God, Our Lord and 
King. What a strange mystery sin is ! And how 
strange that we do not hate it more when we see 
its power to destroy ! 

3. The death of Jesus was no transient occur- 
rence. .He still mystically dies for us each day 
and each hour. When we receive holy Com- 
munion, we ''show the death of the Lord till 
He come," and, therefore, His sacred Passion 
and Death should be the chief subject of our 
thoughts whenever we approach the holy Table, 
and especially on the eve of the solemn day 
when He instituted the sacrament of His love. 

49 



Maundy Thursday — Jesus' Mystical Death 
'n the Blessed Eucharist. 

Read St. John xix. 34-37. 

i. Each time that holy Mass is said, the sac- 
rifice of our blessed Lord upon the cross is rep- 
resented in the sacrifice that takes place upon 
the altar. Thus, the Lamb slain from the foun- 
dation of the world, on the divine decree, con- 
tinues to be slain mystically, and will continue 
as long as the world shall last. With such a 
sight before our eyes, how can we ever forget 
Him? how can we ever lose-heart or despond 
with this abiding proof of His tender love be- 
fore our eyes ? 

2. In the blood and water that flowed from 
Our Lord's side when pierced by the centuri- 
on's spear were represented the sacraments 
of the Church, the blood of Christ that ex- 
tricates us in* holy Communion, the water that 
cleanses our souls in baptism and penance. 
His Sacred Heart that was open then is open 
still ; the rich stream of graces still continues ; it 
has flowed even unto me. What countless 
graces I have received from the love that has 
been poured upon me from the Sacred Heart of 
Jesus ! 

3. The Sacred Host that we receive in holy 
Communion reminds us in many things of the 
dead body of Jesus as it hung upon the cross, all 
the glory hidden — no life to all appearance 
there; in the power of all to treat it as they 
choose ; reduced to the lowest humiliation. Yet 
it is our God and our Lord, the object of the 
adoring love of angels and of men, He Whom the 
heaven of heavens cannot contain, Who con- 
descends to be our Guest and the food of our 
souls. Meditate on the unspeakable love of 
Jesus sacrificed for us ! 

50 



Good Friday — The Descent from the Cross. 

Read St. Mark xv. 3S-46. 

1. No sooner is the sacrifice consummated 
and the last drop of the precious blood shed 
from Our Lord's Sacred Heart, than all is 
changed. That lifeless body is now treated 
with the utmost respect and veneration. See 
how gently and carefully Joseph and Nico- 
demus wind linen bands around the limbs and 
lower it to the ground, reverently adoring that 
body which had only a few hours before been a 
laughing-stock and object of contempt. Hence- 
forth no more ignominy, no more contempt, no 
more ill-usage, but the love and adoration of 
saints and angels to all eternity. 

2. Our Lady receives the body of her Son. 
What were her thoughts as she gazes into the 
five wounds, and sees how from head to foot 
it is covered with gaping wounds and bruises, 
battered out of all shape by the cruelty of man ? 
O Mother of Sorrows, great as an ocean is thy 
sorrow ! What can be thy hatred of sin when 
thou seest what it has wrought in the divine 
beauty of thy spotless Son ! What a mixture of 
agonized compassion and mournful sorrow, and 
hope and consolation, and gratitude and tri- 
umphant joy, fills thy sacred soul while thou 
lookest on the dead body of thy Son ! 

3. The day on which Jesus died is indeed well 
called Good Friday. It is the day when Jesus 
consummated His victory over sin and death. 
While we mourn over His sufferings and our 
sins which caused them, we must also rejoice 
exceedingly at the thought of Satan conquered 
and heaven opened, and millions of sinners 
cleansed from sin in His most precious Blood ! 

5i' 



Easter Eve — The Entombment. 

Read St. Luke xxiii. 50-56. 

1. When Our Lady's mournful task was fin- 
ished, the body of Jesus was laid i.i the new 
tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, there to remain 
until the hour of its joyful resurrection. Let 
us contemplate it as it lies there : disfigured by 
countless wounds and scars ; so apparently help- 
less, yet none the less the joy of God and worthy 
of our highest adoration. Passive and cold and 
motionless, but soon to be radiant with the most 
dazzling beauty ; dead, but living with a divine 
life. Learn from this (a) the glory of suffering ; 
{b) the power of apparent helplessness when 
God is with us ; (c) the beauty of passive obedi- 
ence ; (d) the true life of those who are dead to 
the world. 

2. What was Our Lord doing while thus ap- 
parently inactive in the silent tomb ? He was 
beginning His work of triumph, delivering count- 
less souls from purgatory and from limbo, con- 
soling the patriarchs and prophets, fulfilling His 
promise of paradise to the good thief, trampling 
on Satan and changing the kingdoms of this 
world into the kingdoms of God and of His 
Christ. So it is with us. When we seem use- 
less and doing nothing, we are often really do- 
ing the greatest things for God. 

3. The tomb where Christ is laid is to be the 
model of my soul when I receive holy Com- 
munion : silent from all din of earthly things,' 
cleansed from all stain of sin by a good confes- 
sion and firm resolution to amend, dedicated to 
Him alone, His sacred body embalmed by my 
love, and wrapped in the clean winding-sheet of 
purity of intention. Thus will His presence; 
there be the pledge of my resurrection with Him. 

52 



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